Friday, October 22, 2010
FDA and EMA accept regulatory submissions of vandetanib for advanced medullary thyroid cancer
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Turmeric component (curcumin) enhances chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer
In continuation of my update on Curcumin, I found this info interesting to share with.., i.e., researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have found, when combined with the drug Cisplatin, turmeric enhances the chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer cell growth. Previous studies have shown it can suppress the growth of certain cancers. The study, done in cells in Petri dishes and then in mouse models is of great importance.
A 2005 study by Wang and Srivatsan first showed that curcumin suppressed the growth of head and neck cancer cells, first in cells and then in mouse models. In the animal studies, the curcumin was applied directly onto the tumors in paste form because it did not dissolve in saline, which would have allowed it to be injected. n need of a better way to deliver the curcumin, the team collaborated with Dr. Kapil Mehta of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and found that encapsulating the curcumin in a liposome, an artificially prepared vehicle that enclosed the spice component within its membrane, made the treatment injectable. The curcumin was injected into the tail vein of a mouse, where it circulated into the blood stream, slowing down and eventually stopping the cancer growth, a study in 2008 found.
"This was a very positive finding, developing an efficient way to deliver the treatment," Wang said. "Our study also showed that the curcumin was very well tolerated."
In this study, the team wanted to combine the curcumin with the chemotherapeutic drug Cisplatin, which is very toxic at the doses needed to fight head and neck cancers, damaging kidneys, the ears and the bone marrow. They hoped that if they added curcumin to the mix, they might be able to lower the Cisplatin dose and cause less organ damage. Their finding, that the curcumin made the Cisplatin work better, was very promising.
More....
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sanofi-Aventis’ Teriflunomide Comes Up Trumps in Two-Year Phase III MS Trial ....
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
FDA approves fingolimod drug for multiple sclerosis...
"We have six drugs right now, and they all involve injections. So the convenience alone of a pill is a major change in how we treat MS."
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Rufinamide therapy is effective in reducing partial seizure frequency...
"Overall, there were no significant pharmacokinetic (PK) effects on either rufinamide or any second-generation AED when given with other medications."
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Ingredient (Triclosan) in soap points toward new drugs for Toxoplasmosis !
In the study, Rima McLeod and colleagues point out that toxoplasmosis is one of the world's most common parasitic infections (spread by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, T. gondii), from contact with feces from infected cats, eating raw or undercooked meat, and in other ways. Many have no symptoms because their immune systems keep the infection under control and the parasite remains inactive. But it can cause eye damage and other problems, even becoming life threatening in individuals with immune systems weakened by certain medications and diseases like HIV infection, which allow the parasite to become active again, and in some persons without immune compromise. Most current treatments have some potentially harmful side effects and none of them attack the parasite in its inactive stage.
The scientists knew from past research that triclosan has a powerful effect in blocking the action of a key enzyme that T. gondii uses to live. As per the claim by the researchers, Triclosan, however, cannot be used as a medication because it does not dissolve in the blood, how ever one can use triclosan's molecular structure as the model for developing other potential medications, including some that show promise as more effective treatments for the disease. Hope this research will lead to a better drug than Triclosan without any carcinogenecity and many other side effects associated with this drug..
Ref : http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/abs/10.1021/jm9017724